Mistletoeing into your Heart
by MochiUs
Summary: Aomine bought three bags of mistletoe. Enough said.


When Aomine realized his romantic feelings for Kagami, the epiphany was quite anticlimactic. In short, he had a dream where he played a one-on-one with the red-haired male and woke up with a sense of loss and emptiness inside. He clearly missed Kagami ever since he moved back to America to pursue his dreams. Although Aomine also strived for the same dreams, he couldn't get those fierce, scarlet eyes and ridiculous forked eyebrows out of his head.

Then Christmas was coming, and even though the Winter Cup was in his line of vision, an ache reverberated throughout his body. His soul cried out for another soul-shattering match with Kagami, but this year he wasn't here. His team won, and though the taste of victory was as sweet as he imagined, there was a bitter aftertaste - the type that only Kagami could have rectified.

In a time where he least expected it, a Christmas miracle happened. Kagami was coming back to Japan for the holidays.

As he was helping Momoi set up the Christmas decorations on her tree, he almost toppled over at the weight of the news.

"What?!" he exclaimed and dropped the ornament in his hands. "Bakagami's coming to Japan?! Why didn't you tell me?!"

"I just did," said Momoi. "He's visiting for the holidays because he missed us, so I invited him to our Christmas party."

Warmth tickled his heart. The prospect of Kagami arriving got him jittery and excited. He slowly climbed down the ladder and asked, all shy and awkward, "He missed us?"

Although Kagami didn't specifically miss him, the idea that Kagami somewhat thought about him during his time in the States lifted his hopes. Ever since his revelations, he despaired over his tragic love life because there was no way in hell Kagami reciprocated his affections. Sure, he was his rival-turned-friend, but that was his best bet. They rarely communicated each other due to time zones and basketball practice. The chances that Kagami would choose his sorry ass over some nice girl back in California would be close to null, which is why his upcoming plan was foolproof.

He accepted his slim chances. He knew he had to get over Kagami with his adorable forked eyebrows and odd two-toned hair. His dreams of showering his rival obnoxious displays of love and affection would never bear fruit, and he was fine with that. He accepted that fate wholeheartedly.

Therefore, before he could say farewell to these traitorous thoughts and feelings once and for all, he wanted to experience a kiss, or more specifically, he wanted to know what it felt like to have Kagami's lips upon his. Thanks to the Christmas season, this party was the perfect opportunity to have this unrealistic wish fulfilled. After all, a mistletoe dangling above Kagami's head was the greatest excuse the world has to offer. Sure, the means behind the kiss were underhanded, but Aomine promised to kiss these feelings goodbye once the deed was done, pun intended.

However, Momoi apparently did not share the same sentiment once he visited her again the next day to get the party rolling.

"Dai-chan," she said with arms crossed and a deadpan face, "What is that?"

Her head nodded toward the three bags of mistletoe in his hands.

"Mistletoe," he answered and gave her a strange look. "What?" he asked once he caught the silent disapproval hanging in the air.

"At first, I thought this puppy love was cute, but you are being overexcessive."

"I'm not being overexcessive," he denied, offended. He dropped the bags of mistletoe on the kitchen table, ready to be unpacked and hung in every space of the house. "I'm following a classic tradition," he defended with a huff.

Momoi sucked in a breath and told herself she should have known he would be this bull-headed about his seemingly unrequited feelings.

"Dai-chan," she said with more a placative tone, "I know you'll probably disagree, but I really think it's best for you to confess to Kagamin."

"I love you Satsuki," he told her as he ripped the bags open. "I really do, but that's a terrible idea."

Momoi stared at him with dull, blank eyes. Since the man didn't take her advice, she whipped her hair and left him by his lonesome.

"Idiots," she pouted, hinting that she knew more than meets the eye. "Idiots," she shook her head.

Later in the afternoon the house got more crowded, filling with people new and old. Between greeting the guests and catching up with everyone else, he strategically placed the mistletoe in various rooms. He accounted for each possible situation, and at this point, he was stuck waiting for the star of the show.

Right on cue, the front door opened, revealing Kagami Taiga in his wholesome glory. Aomine was starstruck; god he was so whipped. He stepped forward to greet him properly rather than gaping like an inept fish. However, his pink-haired friend grabbed the redhead's attention first as she approached him with welcoming arms.

"Kagamin!" she squealed and squeezed him tight.

Aomine glared daggers at her, well aware that she made a display of this in order to spite him. To prove his point, he made eye contact with the female while she was in the midst of hugging Kagami, and once their eyes met, she stuck out her tongue. Aomine, in turn, made an affronted noise.

"Aomine?" he heard his name. "Is that you?"

Aomine snapped his eyes back up to greet those warm, familiar, scarlet eyes, and the sensation that bubbled within him was just like the moment Kagami reached the Zone.

Despite the flutter in his chest, he put on a mask of indifference and angled his face away. "Of course it is, Bakagami. I haven't changed much."

"I suppose you haven't," Kagami replied softly.

Aomine turned to face Kagami more directly to ask him what he meant, but he stopped in his tracks. Overall, he didn't change much either, except for the fact that he grew a couple more centimeters, but that wasn't too noteworthy since he grew, too. His short bangs outgrew back to their original length, and he still maintained his bulky frame. However, he also exuded an air of maturity, his eyes bearing a softer tone than the regular piercing look he often received.

Aomine cleared his throat, realizing he stared longer than what was socially appropriate.

"Well, it looks like you changed," he said wistfully. He wondered if Kagami changed so much that the man himself was unrecognizable.

"Not really," Kagami shrugged, "But I won't be surprised if I'm better at basketball than you."

"Oh?" Aomine quirked an eyebrow. He knew he was being challenged. "I'll be the judge of that."

Kagami smiled, honest and true. Aomine missed these dumb conversations.

"I guess you have changed a bit," Kagami said cryptically.

There was an underlying emotion there, but Aomine didn't have the time to translate that because he was being dragged away from his terrible female friend.

"Come on, Dai-chan," she giggled, "The punch had already ran out. Hurry up and refill it."

Aomine had never felt so betrayed. "You do it it then!" he hissed.

Despite his poor attempt to break free from her clutches, her grip was strong. He wanted to give her a piece of his mind, but then she suddenly tugged his collar and pulled him closer.

"Get a clue," she harshly whispered. "I don't agree with your plans, but I'm trying to help you. Hurry up and make sure the mistletoe is ready." She pushed him toward the kitchen. "I'll distract him and make sure he stays right here," she winked.

Aomine rescinded his words. Momoi was the absolute best, and nobody can say otherwise.

In order to fool Kagami, he hurriedly went into the kitchen and exited through the other entrance. He had already determined that the setting of their kiss would take place in one of the spare guest rooms. Confident, he strode back to the living room, his eyes scanning past the party guests to find Kagami.

The party was at its peak. He spotted Kuroko with one of his teammates, but before Aomine could wave him over, the phantom man disappeared into the masses. Then there was Kise, being his perky, magnetic self. Aomine immediately went to the far corner before Kise could somehow foil his plans. Even Murasakibara was enjoying himself, vacuuming each dessert like a well-oiled machine.

Then he found his target. Momoi, the sweet amazing goddess that she is, was still committed to her job.

Kagami looked perplexed, uncomfortable, as if he was unsure about removing himself from the conversation. Well, at least Aomine could be his dashing prince in shining armor.

"Satsuki," he said and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Surprisingly, your brownies were a big hit. Can you make another batch?"

That was not the whole truth, but her brownies were decreasing at a reasonable pace. He just needed an excuse to steal Kagami from her, which Momoi noticed based on her sly grin.

Kagami raised his eyebrows. "You made those brownies?"

Momoi puffed her chest with pride and thumbed her chest. "Yup!" she said and pulled up her sleeves. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I have to bake some brownies."

The exemplary host bowed herself out of the conversation and beelined to the kitchen. Kagami leaned against the wall, impressed with the woman's growth in her culinary skill.

"I can't believe those were edible," he said in awe.

"Me neither," Aomine agreed. "But she practiced real hard in order to perfect the recipe," he explained.

Then he veered off into a nearby hallway and gestured to Kagami to follow his lead. Catching the hint, Kagami moved from his spot.

"I forgot to place some presents under the tree," he said smoothly, "But I wanted to talk to you more." He paused. "If you don't mind of course," he added as an afterthought.

"Nah," Kagami trailed behind him. "I don't," he reassured him. "I wanted to talk to you, too, because…"

Aomine reached the doorknob of the guest room, his heart palpitating a thousand beats per minutes. He waited for Kagami to continue, patient and resilient. After all, there was no turning back once the wheels were set in motion. He was going to receive the kiss of a lifetime.

However, all of those thoughts were washed away once Kagami lowered his head, uncharacteristically biting his lower lip.

Aomine looked at him with concern and released his hold on the doorknob.

"Hey," he said and approached Kagami's hunched form. "Everything alright?"

He heard the other male mumble about fortifying himself, but out of context, that sounded nonsensical. When the redhead lifted his head, a glaze covered his brilliant scarlet eyes, and Aomine couldn't help but wonder what was bothering him so much to be this hesitant.

Disappointedly, Kagami shook his head. "Never mind," he said in a panic and tried to laugh the awkward mood away.

"But…" Aomine reached out until Kagami redirected the subject.

He pointed at the door, blatantly ignoring his attempt to comfort him. "Is this the room with the presents?"

Aomine pursed his lips, unhappy that couldn't something as simple as soothing the tumultuous stirrings in the male's heart. Furthermore, he was inclined to drop the mistletoe project. Kissing Kagami was not worth it if he was this disturbed about his inner problems.

He opened the door and decided to not mention the mistletoe. The man must have had a rough night, he supposed, and the last thing he wanted to do was ruin his night. However, as he opened the door, he had unsuspectedly did so by revealing Midorima and Takao making out inside the guest room.

Aomine stood there, frozen with mortification as the torturous image of Midorima sucking face with the shorter male was seared into his mind.

Then he made the most shrill scream.

"HOLY FUCK WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

The green-haired man had the audacity to look embarrassed once he parted himself from his lover, but that didn't hide the glimpse of horniness and desire in his expression earlier. Gross, Aomine inwardly gagged. He would need a metaphorical soap bar to scrub his brain clean.

Unlike Midorima, unfortunately, Takao proceeded to treat this like normal.

"Hi there!" he greeted enthusiastically as if he didn't had the best makeout session of his life a minute ago. "Sorry about that," he said unapologetically and fixed the buttons of his shirt while patting the creases on Midorima's top.

"Mistletoe," he explained and pointed at the accusatory plant above.

Aomine is going to kill himself.

"Come Shin-chan," Takao said with a mischievous smile and pulled him out of the door.

Both Aomine and Kagami closed their gawking mouths and stepped out of the way as the two lovebirds exited the scene. A profound, pregnant silence permeated the room, and Aomine gulped, wondering how on earth he could avoid the mistletoe problem when Takao revealed its location.

"So…"

Aomine jumped at the sound of Kagami's voice.

"Y-yeah?" he said nervously.

"Midorima and Takao, huh?"

Relieved that Kagami didn't mention the mistletoe, Aomine said, "Well, honestly that was a new development."

"So much has changed ever since I left…" Kagami voiced out in a hollow, strained voice.

Aomine walked toward him, concerned and apprehensive. He could have danced around the topic a bit longer, but seeing Kagami so distressed moved him to action. He firmly head his broad, sturdy shoulders and closed the distance between them.

"Kagami," Aomine said and hoped that he sounded reliable enough, "Although we haven't seen each other much in the past few months, if you're worried about anything, I don't mind lending an ear."

"I just…"

Aomine nodded, waiting.

"I just…"

The red-haired man made a frustrated noise and sunk into the ground. "Goddammit why is it so hard?" he told himself.

"What's so hard?"

"Change," Kagami echoed his thoughts. "I wanted to change."

Aomine blinked. He truly wanted to understand; he really did, but Kagami was not making sense.

"You don't have to change too drastically," he said in a supportive manner, "You're fine just the way you are."

Kagami mentally berated himself and rubbed his eyes. "No," he groaned, "What I wanted to change was…"

He shyly looked away and curled his lips into a frown. A blush stained his cheeks red, Aomine noted, and the male ruffled his hair like a madman until he came into terms with whatever he was battling with.

"This is so stupid!" he complained and rose up to stand.

His shoulders screamed tension, and his body seemed to brace itself for some sort of impact. Aomine was clueless to what unfolded before him, wide-eyed and confused.

Kagami made the shot. "I like you," he said hotly. "I like you so much, but I didn't want to change our current relationship because I was scared that you would reject me."

His knuckles turned white; his cheeks turned a deeper shade of red.

"But I finally realized I wasn't satisfied with things going the same way as usual so I-"

Kagami wasn't able to finish. He didn't need to, not with the way Aomine pressed his lips against his. The kiss was simple and sweet. His lips were slightly chapped but pliable. Aomine was tempted to dive deeper, to gently push him into the nearest wall and press his leg between his strong thighs, but Aomine resisted. He wanted to see what Kagami would do next.

Therefore, he stepped backwards and licked his lips, waiting for Kagami's response. Kagami, on the other hand, touched his lips with his fingers as if he couldn't believe that just happened.

"Mistletoe," Aomine nervously explained and pointed at it in the ceiling. "But even without it," he said, "I wanted to do that regardless." He tilted his head.

"So what about you?" he asked.

Excitement coursed through his veins, and the winds of change blew over him. Kagami stood there, trembling with such intense emotion, he would have keeled over. A spark ignited the flames and he walked back to Aomine's side, as if the two were opposing magnets who couldn't stop being attracted to the other.

"I like this change," he said with a newfound confident gait.

Aomine smirked, his heart bursting with joy after having his feeling reciprocated at last, before he dipped down for another kiss. "Me too," he said as they locked lips.


End file.
